Pantry Ideas

[Jeepers]

I was looking around online at different pantries. There are a lot of neat ideas out there. If you come across any of them how about sharing? Or even a picture of your pantry. Pictures are nice but not necessary. I saw this one in a house for sale online. I really like those cubby holes for her spices or baking ingredients. I like the look of the hang tags too. It looks like 4 separate crates stacked on top of each other. That would hold a lot of jars even inside a pantry. Also it is not very deep so it wouldn't take up a lot of room. Very nice for an OCD matchy-matchy person.

 

 

[Jeepers]

I thought this one would be a nice cooking/baking area. Oh, to be that organized.

 

 

[Jeepers]

I thought this was a cleaver way to use a door for spices etc. The first one looks like a regular hollow core door was used. The second one was built onto the door. Very pretty.  Paint wouldn't let me resize.  

 

 

 

 

[Mt_Rider]

Oh cool!!  I love looking at storage ideas of all kinds.  I love the stuff right there at your fingertips.....except for one thing.  Out here we avoid sunshine, especially on things like spices/herbs.  So I'd prefer a walk-in pantry....and those door ideas are great.  I like the use of hollow core door. 

 

My spices are in a deep wooden drawer.  It requires that I write the spice name on the top of the bottles but the drawer pulls out and there they all are.  I don't have neat rows like I'd like [altho a drawer divider thing would solve that].  But I group meat spices, baking spices, etc together in certain areas.  If I have one open and and extra not opened, I turn the extra one upside-down in the drawer next to the bottle I'm using.  So I don't get two opened at once.  I label the top when I turn it right side up to use it.

 

I've mentioned repurposing the Ocean Spray juice bottles.  Clear, squared, good plastic.  Liquid-proof....air tight.  I set them in rows on top of fridge.  All sorts of things inside.  Rice. Sugar. Flour.  Pasta...now that MICE have once again invaded the pasta drawer. Oats.  Lots of stuff I want safe!  The sun doesn't hit up there directly.

 

MtRider 

Edited June 5, 2017 by Mt_Rider

[Jeepers]

I think I'd probably win the 'prize' for spice cabinets. If I could get a ruler in there I'd measure the width. It's between 7-8 inches wide and as deep as a regular kitchen cabinet. It is so tall and deep that I can't reach past the third spice jar without a step stool. On the middle shelf I have to tiptoe on the step stool and the top shelf I have to climb up on the counter top. I have major pantry envy.

[Jeepers]

Nice idea for lid storage. I have one of those big glass lids like in the picture. It just fits on my small water bath canner. It's so nice because I can see when the water starts to boil without having to keep lifting the lid. I can also make sure it stays at a rolling boil with the lid still on.

 

 

[Jeepers]

These are nice little compartments in the fridge for small things like cheese and butter or deli meats. I could use one for all of the free packets of mustard, catsup, mayo, parm. cheese packets etc. I get

 

Also a pretty way to store cupcake liners.

 

 

[Jeepers]

I'm so in love with 'barn doors'. This is the first time I've ever seen a screen door barn door.

 

 

[Annarchy]

Ok. We are a gun store. Sooo...

 I use boxes DH got from DRMO-military outlets. I put shelves inside to accommodate the excess storage space. It isn't the prettiest, but it works.   And, I really should re-organize it, again. Lol

 

I use the same technique in the boxes for DVD's, cassettes, games, and VCR tapes. Ack.... that dates me. 

 

 

[Annarchy]

[Jeepers]

I like it Annarchy! I like it a lot. I like the 'rustic' look especially with writing on it. My hall/coat closet is getting it tomorrow. I'll take before and after pictures if I can. It's kind of dark and it's across from the stairway so there is not much room to back up to take the shot.

[Annarchy]

Lol, when we get our ATF inspections they nervously constantly look at the boxes. I'll casually mention the storage capacity of the boxes and show them the DVD's.  It usually calms them down. Lol. 

[Annarchy]

Yeah, I'm a nut. GI Joe rocks, he's tacti-cool. (Sorry, off topic.)

[Jeepers]

No such thing of Off Topic for me. I digress!  LOL

 

Ya know, I'll bet you guys could sell those. Put a little protectant on them. I would definitely use the small ones for end tables and the big one on its side for a coffee table. Might have to shorten it a tad. Or the little ones for a bedside nightstand. They would be perfect for a 'man cave'.

 

Oh! How about this. The big one on it's side and used as a "Red Neck Hope Chest for that special little girl!

[Annarchy]

 

I use several of small ones for my desk. My desktop is a solid wood door, without holes. The ferrets live under it. 

[Littlesister]

Annarchy, my daughter and son in law have 7 ferrets.  That is more than a hand full. 

I love the pantry ideas.  Wish I had room to get one in my kitchen. Right now I have a very large hall closet that was a linen closet. We didn't need 2 of those so the one by bathroom is the linen closet and the one in hall way which is very wide and shelfs are about 16 inches deep. So that was turned into my pantry. Though when you garden and can your own food, it fills up fast. So now that it is only DH and myself we have turned 2 bedroom closets into pantries and also in the smaller bedroom have to heavy duty book cases that we are using for our canned foods. Finding places to store food for the long term is a challange to say the least. Many of my spices are in a closet in a box on floor. I am in process of working on a way to get them out of closet and into some type of small cabnet or shelving in the small bedroom. My kitchen is small and not many cabnets to hold alot of food. 

 

[Jeepers]

Littlesister, I'm in the same boat. I've got a house waiting for me to move into (hopefully next year ) and the kitchen is a small galley type. There are quite a few cabinets but never enough. I'm going to have to turn a bedroom into a pantry too.

[Ambergris]

Better AC in the bedroom to keep the food good too, although you might want to put some thought into opsec.  Maybe disguise at least the long term storage in battered cardboard boxes marked as seasonal decoration, craft supplies, or VHS tapes.

[Littlesister]

Hello Ambergris,  We have central air and I keep the ceiling fan on to keep air circulated. What my goal i hope is to run electic to the new shed we bought last year. The idea for the shed was to put all the things from attic in there as DH can't help me get the Christmas tree and things out of attic any longer and a lot of other things that have been moved to the shed. I keep all my extra canning jars in there as well as some very large pots that I use when I can.  Once I get the electric to the shed, I want to install a window air conditioner. Not worried about heat, just air condition. Then I want to move all my long term foods out there and fix up a type of pantry that will be in boxes. I like the idea of labeling them as seasonal Christmas direction, or craft supplies, etc. that would be a great idea.  The 25 year foods will be put up in the loft. That is 6 feet deep and would also be hard to get to once I get it up there. Then I could put some of my craft and canning jars in front of that. It is one of the things on my to do list but a bit far down on that list right now as we are having the driveway torn out and redone. It was in very bad shape.  So right now I am at the end of my emergency money. We have had to replace furnance, then a new roof, this year was the air conditioner. It has been one thing after the other and we always paid with cash so no bills to pay each month. We still have to jack up the dining room floor and get floor fixed where the to heavy of a china hutch pulled floor away from wall. So it is in need of repair. Then the fire place needs some serious work done. The way it is now we can't use it. So got to get the repairs done and then thinking about an insert that we could use for cooking as well. Will need to research my options on all that. But right now we need to build up funds again and fast. 

[Annarchy]

7 Ferrets, is a handful.   We had 13 at one time, a total of 26 through the years.  Keeping our supplies out of their reach, was a task.  We’ve ended our rescue, so, I am able to store our supplies, now, in the areas I hadn’t  been able to.  
 

Hopefully, you will be able to get all your renovations & repairs done, relatively quickly.  Sounds like you have a great plan.
 

 I’m in AZ, and the window AC in our shed, doesn’t cut the heat when it’s 110*+ outside for months.    Everything perishable, has to be stored inside our house, including, plastics & rubber items.  

[Mt_Rider]

4 hours ago, Annarchy said:

including, plastics & rubber items.

 

Annarchy, do you store rubbery things like rubber bands, Bandaids, etc in the fridge?  That's how we battle the dry air that makes those things either brittle or sticky.  Hate to have Bandaids that are superglued onto one's skin...and come off in bits and pieces. 

 

Each region has it's own challenges.  In Hawaii, no one needs to iron clothes.  The humidity level is enough to drop wrinkles out.  Handy!    But then you have to watch for mildew, etc.  Not much of that here.  As for pantry in Hawaii.....I can't even THINK of the buggy problems when we move back there!!!  Aaaugh!  I kept spices in the freezer just to keep bugs out. 

 

Here we have solid deep COOL temps in the basement during summer and have to turn furnace up a bit on super SubZero nights to make sure nothing down there freezes.  Quite perfect for stored grains and such.  ....not gonna have that in Hawaii either.    Never saw a house there with a basement .....but it sure would help for staying cooler. 

 

MtRider   

[Annarchy]

No, Mt_Rider. For years, we didn’t keep rubber bands, potential ferret danger, deadly blockages, if they eat them.  The ones I kept in a sealed box, inside the house, crumble after about a year.  I don’t find many uses for them, because of that.  Plastic bags crumble, after about a year, less than 6 months if they get sunshine.  Plastic storage boxes take about 2 years to begin to crumble.  
 

Bandages, medical tapes, and such, we keep in sealed metal ammo cans, but, we have to inspect/replace of them, periodically, because they loose their stickiness.  I also don’t use duct tape, for that reason.  The adhesive sticks well enough (too well, very hard to remove), on what ever it’s on, but the tape will peal off rather quickly.  Learning to work with dry heat was a challenge.  

[Mt_Rider]

Yeah, you're hotter and drier than we are.  A pain.....I know the duct tape story too.  I'm still trying to get some of the "leavings" off of the tubular sections I used for the Circus Tent.  Sandpaper, maybe.  Been trying some T-Rex duct tape on the plastic covering over the swamp cooler.  We'll see if it lasts. 

 

MtRider  

[Jeepers]

I've had a few rubber bands dry out and band aids go stickie on me through the years but nothing like that. I never even thought about plastic totes crumbling up.

 

I'll have a separate garage that has a gas heater in it and according to the man, it's super insulared. I can store some of my food processor equipment out there. And some of my TP and paper towels out there. Probably no food.

 

[Littlesister]

Wish I could figure out how to put pictures of my make shift pantries on here. Don't know how to transfer them. Though they are from I think 2013 or 14. But would give you an idea of my situation on space.